Chicken Morning

To lighten the mood from yesterday, I invite you to join in my morning ritual. I opened the little chicken door and got my phone ready to capture the morning rush. They really do run and tumble out.

First out of the gates: it's Columbian Rock, followed by Barred Rock, followed by Columbian Rock (nope, I don't name them).

Following close behind... standard brown laying hens.

Wait for me!

Still more...
But let's turn on the light and go inside.

Still on the roost.

Giving me the eye.

She wasn't laying an egg, she was just sitting there.

Although they can eat exactly the same food inside the coop, they get very excited to dine al fresco and wait for me to feed them outside each morning.

On the chicken bench, surveying her world.

And those are my mornings. Have a lovely Sunday.

As of Late...

I'm finally getting around to writing a post this morning. It's warm outside and wet - we've had some rainy days lately, but it is looking much more 'autumnal'.
Two weekends ago, we were a flurry of activity, assisting in getting ready for propane to be installed in our very old home. As we approach retirement, and therefore, will have less money coming in, we decided a good way to reduce our costs would be to convert to propane from our current heating oil. Husband did a wonderful job talking to a variety of companies and contractors and getting a good price for all the necessary work involved in changing over to a different heating system. Part of the deal was to do the 'trenching' ourselves, so a trenching machine was rented, and picked up (a pain in itself) and the ordeal was frustrating beyond belief. It did not cut down to the depth it was advertised to, so we were literally lying in the ground, trowels in hand, scraping out earth to try and create a deeper trench. This trench ran from where the big propane tank would be placed, around the side of the garage, along part of the length of the house, around a spruce tree and then back up to the house to be connected to the basement. The rocks we encountered were hideous. Our son, thankfully, was able to spare his weekend from college and drove all the way home to help, and then all the way back for Monday classes.

I threw my garden glove down to give you perspective in the picture, but this isn't the biggest one by far. Son now knows how to wield a pickaxe like a professional! As with everything, the process is still not done, with the contractor waiting on parts, or something. Thankfully, we are not yet into our full-on heating system and our yard remains a scene of trench warfare. Until they pressure check (? does that sound right?) the system, we don't fill in the trench, and plant grass seed. It's funny because we have a "country" lawn, in that if it's green, we mow it. We don't fuss with weed killer or over seeding with grass seed because we have an acre of land and are surrounded on two sides with empty fields filled with burdock, goldenrod, and various other vigorous weeds. So, when we do fill in the trenches and plant grass seed, we will end up with lovely green grassy sections, like a landing strip.


To move on, here is a picture of Samson, wanting to be taken back to son's college with him. It was heart warming, as son was packing up Sunday evening to start the drive back (yes, that's clean laundry in the back of his car!), Sammy jumped in and had to be removed by hand. They have a close relationship, those two.

As to all the other days in my life, when I return home from work, all I have in me is enough to prepare supper and do a few small 'chicken chores'. I am flat out tired. I never signed on , thirty years ago, to be a specialist in autism, a councillor, a mental health professional, a juggler of all things, but here I am, expected to do it all, with no support. This is a young person's profession, I believe. Or things must change, however, I won't be in it long enough to see change. So, I carry on and do my best and support my colleagues who are in similar boats.

Today, Saturday, I will pick up a few groceries, perhaps bake zucchini carrot muffins, and try to take it easy (but I do have I.E.P.s to write which are individual education plans). On Sunday, husband's mother, who has dementia, is actually going to be flying on a plane to stay with her daughter in another province for a couple of weeks. Husband will be driving her to the airport in Toronto (about three hours away), getting her as far as he can until he passes her on to a person who is in charge of her care until she is loaded on the plane. It's a bit like arranging for a child to go on a plane. Friends of ours are Dutch and they had done something similar when one of their children went to Holland to be met by relatives at the other end. I do hope this goes well. I will be writing her a note on brightly coloured card that she can look at to reassure her, and remind her to what's happening, and who will be meeting her at the airport. Mostly, I wonder who will be seated next to her on the plane, as they will be engaged in a repetitive conversation for the whole way. I think it will be about two hours in total, but I'm not sure. Husband's mother has certainly flown on planes before, back when dementia was not part of her reality, so the idea of being in an airport and on a plane doesn't scare her. We helped her pack last night, but I suspect she will have gone through the suitcase already, checking and double checking. Although I don't relish the thought of taking my Sunday to be part of this, I may come along to help out. I'm not sure yet. I really do need a weekend to recoup.

To end, one morning, when I went out to open up the coop, I saw this hawk in the process of ripping apart some poor, unsuspecting bird. I went back inside to grab my phone. I couldn't get too close to take a picture, but when it did fly off, it took its prey with it. I love seeing hawks! I'm pretty sure this is a Cooper's hawk.

We've never had a chicken taken by a hawk, for those of you who are wondering. This is a medium sized hawk, not one of the big ones. I suspect it's far more interested in doves and other songbirds.
Have a good weekend, everyone!

After the First Week...

Yes, I'm still alive. I made it though the first week. The first week of returning to work with 24 grade fours, and the first week of being empty nesters. I'm physically exhausted by the end of the day. I had a hoarse voice by the end of the first day. I stopped crying intermittently a couple of days ago.

Honestly, I'm not a super cry-ie person generally. I have always believed in raising children to become independent, responsible, capable human beings. But here's the deal - having the second (and last) "child" move out of the house was a whole different ball game. I turned into this ridiculous sappy mess leading up to the day he went away to college. I held it together on moving day until the very end when we hugged to say goodbye, then I started and then my daughter looked at me and started. I made sure we were outside the college entrance, off to the side, so as not to embarrass son, not that he knew anyone anyway. I don't mean I was a sobbing, bawling mess, clinging on him and wailing away, but my face was screwed up and there were some tears.

Then two days after that, daughter moved back to her university city. Not as many tears, because we've been down this road before with her. She'll be fine, she's established there, has friends, knows the score.

The next morning, as I was going through my routine, getting ready to go to work, I found myself in son's room - just standing there, taking in the nineteen-year-old-young-man essence that still hung in the air. I resisted texting him that morning!

Daughter, of course, texted the next day to show that there is now a cat living in the house she rents part of. Nice! Then texted about getting into a course that she didn't think she'd get into to, but there was one opening left, and she did. Then texted to show she was eating one of the muffins I had sent her away with (homemade - zucchini chocolate chip - made with love - yes, son got some, too).

Then, it wasn't until a couple of days later that I started to realize I now have another drawer in the bathroom. I do not have to shift and balance my way through four different bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, god knows what else... in the shower. There is an extra bed I could go to if husband's snoring gets to the "I want to smother you with a pillow" stage. And when I go grocery shopping tomorrow, the list will be considerably smaller. These aren't necessarily observations of "better", just different.

The whole getting back to work thing? To use an over-used phrase, it is what it is. It is what I do as a profession, I've done it before (30 years of it) and I'll do it one more time, and then that's it. It's a new group of students, we'll established routines, we'll work our way through the curriculum, we'll deal with all that is eight to nine year olds. We've already had our first staff meeting, we have "Open House" (formerly known as Meet the Teacher or Meet the Creature) this coming week. These make for long days when your body is just getting used to standing all day long and your throat is getting used to talking all day long and you're reminding yourself that patience is a virtue.

We are now just the two of us. But our conversations still often revolve around the kids. Today we are off to a little Fall Fair where we will see a display of my aunt's artwork. She died a little while ago and her daughter is putting on a display at a fair that is the "hometown" of her mom's youth. We will see my siblings, as we are all doing a bit of a jaunt to go there and enjoy looking at her paintings again. After, we will visit with my childhood friend and her husband, who are also now empty nesters, but not quite as much, as their son lives just down the road with his wife and new baby.

Time now to read some of your blogs and catch up on your lives.

Crickets, Yellow, Purple, New Beginnings - All that is Late August

Late August is always a meaningful time of year for me. It signifies so many things, and this year, it signifies even more.

In terms of my natural surroundings, August is a crickety time, a crunchy time, a very yellow and purple time. The fruit trees are laden, gardens are full, the corn is tall, many plants are winding down and becoming withered and tired. I love the "feel" of this time of year. The light is different.

Yellow.

Purple.

Yellow.

Purple.

Yellow.

Purple.

Yellow and Purple.

Yes, I'm seeing it, too. I need to plan my gardens better. What else is blooming right now that could provide a much needed change in colour? I do have some creamy whites with my hydrangeas. I can tell what time of year it is from this particular hydrangea (thinking it might be called something like Pink Diamond??).

The blooms start out white, but when they become pink, as they are just beginning to now, you know that summer is coming to a close. Soon they will be all a beautiful rusty pink colour.

My sad, sad, very sad vegetable garden would normally be producing scads of green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and still lettuce at this stage. I am harvesting minimal amounts of beans, zucchini, and cucumbers. The lettuce just doesn't get eaten in any great quantity, so the chickens get to enjoy the stalks that are beginning to go to seed.

They rushed to the fence in hopes that I had something to feed them when I was taking pictures this morning. I didn't. I think I heard one of them swear as I walked away.

But there is hope. A tiny, little, pathetic bit of hope...

Do you see it, in all its cracked glory, amongst the blighty leaves? Toasted tomato sandwich, here we come!! (Another late August thing).

Shall we compare my struggling little tomato to this hearty beast? This is a plant that gets a bad rap - it's goldenrod. Another yellow of late August, it gets blamed for seasonal allergies. The real culprit is ragweed which is prevalent right now, but isn't as showy, so it hides in the background causing people to pop allergy meds. like tictacs. I think goldenrod is quite pretty, and lord knows, it grows well with no help from me at all.

The new beginnings part of my post title? Well that refers to a couple of things. Of course, for me, it's the approach of a new school year. Most people's years go from January to December. Mine go from September to June, with bonus months in between. This will be my second last new school year ever. It is odd to think that. It will be even more significant when it is my LAST start to a school year, but this is my last full year. I will only teach from September to January in my final year. That is when I can retire with full pension. So, this is my last time to have a class from start to finish. When you've been doing something for 29 years, and it's your last time at it, it makes me ponder, reflect, consider...

Another new beginning for myself and husband is the advent of being empty nesters, at least for most of the time. This September we launch both kids away to post secondary education. Now, this is old hat for us when it comes to our daughter. She's been away to university for a while now, coming home for the summer to work. However, this is the first time for our son, moving away to college in a town about three hours away. I must admit, I've been struggling a bit with this. Not to be interpreted that I care more about saying goodbye to one child more than the other, but now it means they are both gone. No more waiting to hear his car pull up after his shift at his part time job is done. No more preparing supper for four (or sometimes five or six depending on who's coming). No more knocking on bedroom doors to make sure someone is definitely awake in the morning. No more piles of shoes in the mudroom, or three different bottles of shampoo in the bathtub, or buying Nutella because son likes it, or sriracha chili sauce because daughter likes it. The house will feel so very empty. And oh my god... it's going to be just husband and I.      Let that one sink in for a moment.

Oatmeal Eggwhite Pancakes

When I was into "clean eating", I learned how to perfect these. Now I make them because I'm always wanting to use up some more eggs, and they are so darn tasty!

Oatmeal Eggwhite Pancakes

-1/4 cup dry oatmeal (quick cook is fine)
-a dash of water
-3 egg whites
-cinnamon to taste
-fruit for the top if you wish
-choice of syrup
-Pam cooking spray (or some other type of nonstick spray)

First, measure out 1/4 cup of dry oatmeal into a small mixing bowl. I use whatever "quick cook"oatmeal I have on hand - cooks in 1 minute, or instant... it doesn't matter.

Then I pour in a little bit of water that is leftover from the kettle. It's often still warm, which I think helps to soften the oatmeal a bit first. I don't really measure, just enough to wet the oatmeal. Then stir it around with a fork. At this point I also add a few shakes of cinnamon, stirring that in.

I use our own chicken's eggs, so they are probably what would be considered "large" size, but again, it doesn't matter. Do you know the easiest way to separate yolks from whites? Crack your egg and separate it into two halves. Pour the contents of the egg from one half to the other, while letting the whites pour out and keeping the yolk in the half of the shell. It may take a couple of back and forths from shell to shell to fully separate, but it works like a charm. Don't worry if a little yolk gets in there. Either dispose of the yolks or keep for some other purpose in the fridge.

Stir the egg whites in with the oatmeal, water, and cinnamon. Mix with a fork until thoroughly combined.

Use a small nonstick frying pan. My nonstick frying pans aren't always nonstick, so I spray it with Pam. I generally spray the frying pan and have a little heat under it to get it hot while I'm making the mixture.

Pour your mixture into the frying pan and allow it to cook over medium-low heat for a few minutes. DO NOT TRY TO FLIP IT UNTIL IT IS NICE AND SET, ALMOST A LITTLE BIT CRISPY AROUND THE EDGES.  Honestly, just let it sit in the frying pan and cook. Walk away, check your phone, feed the cat... don't try to flip it if it's still a little bit soft and runny.

When it is browning up and the edges are a little crispy / firm, use a wide spatula to flip it, just once. This side won't take nearly the same amount of time to cook, so just give it a minute or so. It should come off looking like this:

This is not a light fluffy, cakey type pancake. It has the nice nutty texture of the oatmeal and an almost custard quality to the eggwhites. It's as if an oatmeal cookie married a custard.

Depending on the season, I might slice strawberries on it, or have fresh blueberries. However, right now it's peach season, so this is about half a peach cut up, with two tablespoons of maple syrup (actual maple syrup). For those of you who might be concerned, the pancake itself is 126 calories. Shown my way with the syrup and a half a peach it is 265 calories altogether.

Speaking of peaches, why is there such a limited window of opportunity when it comes to peaches?? One day they are sitting there, all lovely and pinky orange, just perfectly ripe and ready to eat, juice dripping down your chin. The next day they are moldy and grey at one end. I do take them out of the basket after I buy them and set them separately on a large serving platter. Doesn't seem to matter. Don't tell anyone, but I just cut off the yucky end and eat the rest! (But I wouldn't serve that one to you if you came for a visit).

Bagpipes

Someone somewhere in our little village has taken up the bagpipes. They have practised every day in early afternoon. They are working on Scotland the Brave and aren't half bad. I've been known to almost tear up and have to choke down a lump in my throat when I hear bagpipes in a parade. They remind me of my father. No, he didn't play, but held on to his Scottish heritage.

Unfortunately, the only thing I can think of when I hear these pipes in the afternoon is this:

No Fruit, No Nuts

No fruit, no nuts - that's always been my insistence when it has come to planting any new trees on this property.  Although some favourite childhood memories come from time spent under a chestnut tree, collecting the shiny brown chestnuts, I know what a mess fruit and nut trees make. Since I am the gardener around here, it would be me cleaning it up.

Alas, we did not plant our old apple tree. It's been here longer than we have, that's for certain. Last year when we rented the beast of a wood chipper, we did a lot of cutting and trimming. One tree that got a good once over was the old apple tree. There were many dead limbs that needed pruning.

Well, naturally after that good hair cut, the tree has had a bumper year!

Unfortunately, these are not quality apples. They bruise the moment they hit the ground, are a rather soft fruit, and aren't terribly big. I think once I laboured over them to make apple sauce. It wasn't worth it. We don't spray, so there are wee critters that make their way through the apples. Mostly, I rake and dump. Sometimes I squish a few underfoot and toss them in the chicken run for the hens. They enjoy them.

To give you an idea of the magnitude of this task, here is a picture of having almost finished the last of the raking and dumping of apples.

I decided I would take a picture the very next morning to show you how many apples come down in less than a day.

I couldn't quite capture the full collection because they fall quite far (and roll) (into my flower bed). I didn't actually rake at all yesterday, so there is a tremendous amount out there this morning. I don't think I can leave it much longer without raking today! What about you? Any messy trees on your property?

And to round off the morning, I leave you with a hen in a box.

Her expression said, "Leave me alone, I have a job to do."